LONDON (UK) – Only 55% of Black people in England aged between 70 to 79 had been inoculated against COVID-19 by February 11, compared to 86% of white people in this age group, as per early research on England’s coronavirus vaccination programme.
According to a study by OpenSafely, run by the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, among people from South Asian backgrounds the figure remained at 73 percent.
These ethnic groups have been particularly affected by COVID-19 with a disproportionate number of deaths. Government advisers have said that factors such as living circumstances and profession have led to the increased risk.
Public health officials are urging for a well-coordinated campaign to address vaccine hesitancy as recent polls in Britain have revealed that Black, Asian and other minority groups are less likely to get the vaccine than white people, as they worry about the vaccine’s reliability. However. Britain’s drug regulator has said the vaccines are safe.
The government is relying on the biggest and swiftest global vaccine rollout in its history.
Britain has vaccinated 15.94 million people with a first dose and 558,577 with a second dose, the fastest rollout per capita of any large country.